Maritime law is a system of laws, conventions and regulations that govern activities on the seas and oceans. It covers a wide range of issues, from navigation, shipping, seafarer welfare and piracy to fishing, marine pollution and conservation.
One of the principles of maritime law is the freedom of the high seas. This principle means that all countries have the right to use the oceans for navigation, fishing and other activities without interference from others. The ocean is free for all.
But there is a counter to this. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in 1982, recognises that the ocean is the ‘common heritage of humankind’, and that ‘No State shall claim or exercise sovereignty or sovereign rights over any part of the Area or its resources’.
While the ocean is free for all, it should not be a free for all, open to exploitation and abuse.
Major challenges around ratifying and enforcing the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea remain, and it has limited influence over what individual countries choose to do within their own exclusive economic zones.
However, recent developments show that maritime law can play an important role in ensuring the sustainability of the ocean and health of our planet.
